EA's (EA) latest game "Apex Legends" is posing a real online threat to Epic Games' "Fortnite," particularly on Amazon's (AMZN) Twitch streaming platform, Jane Lanhee Lee of Reuters reports. After impressing investors with its enormous launch, "Apex Legends" fell briefly to the second spot on Twitch before retaking first place, Lee notes. "Apex" has made a strong showing on Twitch, reaching 688,000 peak live viewers, the reporter says. "Apex Legends had a massive first week on Twitch. It generated more hours watched than any other game during its launch week in our history," Michael Aragon, Twitch's senior vice president of content, said in an email. Investors in Epic Games include Tencent (TCEHY), Disney (DIS), and KKR (KKR). Reference Link

BMO Capital analyst Gerrick Johnson raised his price target on Electronic Arts to $116 and kept his Outperform rating after its latest update that Apex Legends player count has reached 25M with "well over" 2M concurrent players at the peak. The analyst believes that the gamer count for the title will continue to expand and for player engagement to remain high, raising his FY19 and FY20 EPS estimates by 6c and 80c respectively to $3.91 and $5.30.

02/13/19

RHCO

02/13/19NO CHANGETarget $49RHCOBuy

Activision Blizzard price target lowered to $49 from $54 at SunTrust

SunTrust analyst Matthew Thornton lowered his price target on Activision Blizzard (ATVI) to $49, saying the company's reported quarter and guidance were "clearly challenged", with added risk coming from the rising popularity of Electronic Arts' (EA) Apex Legends. The analyst also keeps his Buy rating on the stock, noting that some of its uncertainty has been removed while the management is increasing development investment to accelerate new content. Thornton lowers his FY19 and FY20 EPS by 42c and 43c to $2.25 and $2.50 respectively, adding that his new valuation multiples are in in with historical average and may prove conservative.

02/11/19

BARD

02/11/19NO CHANGETarget $106BARDOutperform

Electronic Arts price target raised to $106 from $90 at Baird

Baird analyst Colin Sebastian raised his price target on Electronic Arts to $106 and kept his Outperform rating after the company disclosed today that the number of active Apex Legends players has topped 25M since its launch. The analyst states that the launch implies a better start the the "phenom" Fortnite game, which took over 40 days to reach 25M users, adding that while the data on player retention and monetization is limited, an upcoming update from Respawn should give investors more visibility on whether Apex will be a hit.

Stephens analyst Jeff Cohen noted that Activision Blizzard (ATVI), like peers Electronic Arts (EA) and Take-Two (TTWO), gave 2019 guidance that was significantly below consensus and framed it as a transition year. Cohen, who said he feels confident now is the time to be buying as 2019 should represent the trough of earnings power, lowered his price target on the shares to $57 from $65 but keeps an Overweight rating on Activision Blizzard shares.

AMZNAmazon.com

$1,639.90

2.045 (0.12%)

02/12/19

LOOP

02/12/19NO CHANGELOOPBuy

NEMF liquidation could be boost for LTL companies, says Loop Capital

After New England Motor Freight, or NEMF, announced that it was liquidating, Loop Capital analyst Jeffrey Kauffman noted that the company was the 19th largest LTL carrier by revenues in 2018 and had a reputation as more of a discounter. He believes NEMF's customers, which reportedly includes Amazon (AMZN), will be challenged to find capacity easily with other LTL carriers given the current tightness in the market. The analyst, who said the liquidation should buoy LTL companies, has a Buy rating on YRC Worldwide (YRCW).

In a research earlier today titled "Encroachment Is a 5-Yard Penalty," DA Davidson analyst Tom Forte reiterated an Underperform rating on Wayfair with a $60 12-18 month price target. The stock in morning trading is up 1% to $120.89. Amazon.com (AMZN) announced yesterday that it was launching two private-label furniture brands in the U.K., Forte wrote to investors. The analyst sees the news as "yet another indication" of Amazon's intent to expand its efforts in the home category, including furniture. Yesterday's announcement follows Amazon's decision last December to lower third-party selling fees for the furniture category, the analyst points out. Forte views Amazon's efforts to ramp its sales in the home category as an increasing threat for Wayfair. Further, the analyst is monitoring the potential sale of Overstock's (OSTK) legacy home e-commerce business, as he thinks a sale to a large bricks and mortar retailer could also result in additional competition for Wayfair.

02/08/19

SUSQ

02/08/19UPGRADETarget $30SUSQPositive

Air Transport Services upgraded to Positive, target raised to $31 at Susquehanna

As reported previously, Susquehanna analyst Christopher Stathoulopoulos upgraded Air Transport Services (ATSG) to Positive from Neutral. The analyst cited its extended agreement with Amazon (AZMN), which puts its growth still in the early-innings as he sees low double-digit block hour growth in 2019 as achievable. Stathoulopoulos raised his price target to $30 from $21 on Air Transport Services shares.

02/07/19

MSCO

02/07/19NO CHANGETarget $99MSCOOverweight

PayPal acceptance growth still best of any digital wallet, says Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette said the most common question he has gotten for the past several weeks on PayPal (PYPL) has been, "Why is the stock underperforming so much since the beginning of 2019?" He believes PayPal's recent plateauing probably has more to do with other stocks than anything stock-specific, stating that Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) "really have arguably had their best buying opportunities in years" and he would not be surprised to see PayPal "tread water" until those two stocks retake their respective highs. Another common thread in talks has been increasing concern that other digital wallets from Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and others may be closing the acceptance gap, though he thinks that "speculation is flatly wrong." Dating back to March 2016, PayPal has had the fastest acceptance growth among all digital wallets, outpacing all the other wallets that he can reliably track, Faucette tells investors. He maintains an Overweight rating and $99 price target on PayPal shares.

TCEHYTencent

$0.00

(0.00%)

12/12/18

MZHO

12/12/18DOWNGRADEMZHONeutral

Tencent assumed with a Neutral at Mizuho

Mizuho analyst James Lee assumed coverage on Tencent with a Neutral rating and a price target of HK$345, down from the firm's prior rating of Buy. He sees the company being well positioned in gaming, advertising, payments and commerce, but believes the near-term regulatory and macro environment creates uncertainty for the gaming and ad businesses.

11/08/18

OTRG

11/08/18DOWNGRADEOTRGMixed

Tencent downgraded to Mixed from Positive at OTR Global

01/14/19

BERN

01/14/19INITIATIONBERNMarket Perform

Tencent assumed with a Market Perform at Bernstein

Bernstein analyst David Dai assumed coverage on Tencent with a Market Perform.

01/29/19

01/29/19DOWNGRADETarget $74Neutral

YY downgraded to Neutral on slowing Live business at Nomura Instinet

As previously reported, Nomura Instinet analyst Jialong Shi downgraded YY (YY) to Neutral from Buy as the company struggles to find a new driver for its slowing YY Live business, which is facing rising competition from Tencent-backed (TCEHY) Kuaishou and Kugou. Shi cut FY19 revenue and earnings estimates for YY by 3% and 5%, respectively, and lowered the price target on the stock to $74 from $75.

KKRKKR

$23.50

-0.1 (-0.42%)

10/26/18

ARGS

10/26/18UPGRADETarget $28ARGSBuy

KKR upgraded to Buy at Argus on valuation

As reported earlier, Argus analyst Stephen Biggar upgraded KKR to Buy from Hold with a price target of $28. The analyst says the pullback in the company's stock price is unwarranted, with its latest Q3 earnings beating expectations amid "continued healthy growth in fees and performance-related income". Biggar adds that the recent "market turbulence" will offer the company opportunities to deploy its "substantial cash holdings" in assets with future monetizations. The analyst further stated that its valuation premium to other alternative asset managers is "warranted by KKR's greater liquidity following its conversion to corporate status".

11/19/18

LEER

11/19/18NO CHANGETarget $42LEERMarket Perform

Acadia selloff appears 'overdone,' says Leerink

Leerink analyst Ana Gupte views Acadia (ACHC) as being oversold after the CNBC newsflow on Friday around the issues ongoing with the sale process to KKR (KKR). The analyst notes that it is unclear to her if the strategic leak to CNBC is coming from the company itself to signal the end of the current sale process, or is a move from the current potential buyers in pursuit of a lower price. Gupte reiterates a Market Perform rating and $42 price target on Acadia shares.

01/04/19

GSCO

01/04/19DOWNGRADETarget $93GSCONeutral

T. Rowe Price downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs analyst Alexander Blostein downgraded T. Rowe Price (TROW) to Neutral with a $93 price target. The analyst also removed the shares of KKR (KKR) and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) from his firm's Americas Conviction List, but keeps Buy ratings on both. Blostein continues to view T. Rowe as "one of the strongest active management franchises" in a challenging environment for traditional asset managers, but he believes "risks to the stock are building." Flows are likely to decelerate "meaningfully" as T. Rowe's three-year excess returns in parts on equities and particularly in fixed income are declining and broader retail rotation out of equities remains a risk, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

01/04/19

GSCO

01/04/19DOWNGRADETarget $27GSCOBuy

KKR downgraded to Buy from Conviction Buy at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs analyst Alexander Blostein removed KKR from his firm's Americas Conviction List but keeps a Buy rating on the name. The analyst thinks the more challenging macro backdrop will likely be a headwind for the company's near-term cash earnings growth and book value growth. He still sees "significant upside" to his $27 12-month price target, but cautions that the "near-term path is less certain."

DISDisney

$110.16

0.97 (0.89%)

02/06/19

LOOP

02/06/19NO CHANGETarget $130LOOPBuy

Disney generated strong fundamentals in Q1, says Loop Capital

Loop Capital analyst Alan Gould kept his Buy rating and $130 price target on Disney after its Q1 results, saying its strong fundamentals are leading into its continued pivot toward streaming business. The analyst points to the doubling of ESPN+ subscriptions to 2M over the past 5 months and expects the launch of Disney+ service to have a "much wider appeal". Gould also sees modest improvement in the traditional ESPN subscriber trend, another strong quarter for its Domestic Parks segment, and Hulu equity looses being "offset by program sales, advertising and affiliate fees."

Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne said in a note before the open that Disney's (DIS) Q1 results were broadly ahead of expectations. He said that ESPN+ has surprised him with its early sub growth ahead of "all eyes" being on the launch of Disney+ this fall and the consolidation of Hulu after the Fox (FOXA) deal closes. Additionally, the $150M drag on operating income for FY19 was lower than expected given fears over lost licensing revenues as Disney opts to keep much of its film and TV content in house, said Swinburne. He continues to see Disney shares offering compelling value and keeps an Overweight rating on the stock with a $135 price target.

Shares of MSG Networks (MSGN) were down 7% on January 15 when the New York Post reported that Disney (DIS), which is required to sell off the Fox regional sports networks per a mandate from the Department of Justice, is having a "tough time" finding a buyer for the whole package, Imperial Capital analyst David Miller tells investors in a research note. The article seemed to imply that if the auction is not successful and Disney is forced to deploy a fire sale on the networks, and ends up receiving only five-to-six times EBITDA, that that is where MSG Networks should trade, says the analyst. He disagrees with this thought. The "mark" for MSG Networks is terminal value on YES only, not the other 21 regional sports networks, which are far less profitable, Miller contends. He maintains an Outperform rating on MSG Networks with a $32 price target.